Photoshop Elements Tutorial – CoffeeShop Vivid 2 Action

Install and Run CoffeeShop Vivid 2 Action in Photoshop Elements

• If you don’t already have the CoffeeShop Vivid 2 free action, download it.
• See these instructions for installing actions in Photoshop Elements 4, 5, 6 & 7 on Vista and XP if you need help.
• Make sure you are in the Full Edit workspace.

• Press the button that says Photo Effects when you hover your mouse over it.  (See image above.)  This step and the next one, among others, may vary according to the version of PSE that you own.  Instructions for accessing your installed actions in your specific version of PSE are on these installation help pages.  (If you can’t find your effects palette, go to the Window menu and click on Effects.)
• Scroll down in the Photo Effects Palette until you see the green and white coffee cup icon for this action. 

• Double click on the Vivid 2 thumbnail and you will get this message from CoffeeShop:

CoffeeShop Vivid 2 Color Pop Action!

When the levels adjustment layer pops up, make color/contrast correct by using the eyedroppers.

Adjust Levels

• Click continue, and then click Ok in the New Layer dialogue box.
• Next, the Levels Adjustment box opens.  All the pros say that just about every picture can use some levels work.  But, if the colors in your picture look correct, click OK to proceed to the next step.
• If you do want to adjust your pictures color tones, click on the black eyedropper, then click on something that should be black in your image. 

• Now, if you need to set the white point also because the color still doesn’t look right, you can click on the white eyedropper and then click on something that should be white.  Keep clicking with both eyedroppers if you’re not happy with the results. 
• You can also adjust the Input Levels sliders to fine-tune your color adjustments.  The left slider (above the number 0 in the image above) adjusts shadows, the middle slider adjusts mid-tones and the right slider adjusts highlights.  I often use the eyedroppers for shadows & highlights (blacks and whites) and use the slider for the mid-tones.
• You can hit Reset if you don’t like your adjustments and want to start over.  However, if you click Cancel, you will have to start over with the whole action.  Click Ok when you are happy with your adjustments.

Choose Color Pop Option

• The action will do some processing, which might take a few moments.  Then you will get this message:

Turn on color pop of choice, adjust opacity and use layer mask if needed.  Turn on/off sharpen/vignette layer, adjust opacity to taste.  For stronger vignette use multiply blending.  In Lighten/Darken, use white brush to lighten, black brush to darken areas.

• Press continue, then look on your Layers Palette at the 4 Color Pop options (Bright, Urban, Vivid and Soft).  The Layers Palette is usually on the right hand side of the screen.  If you can’t find yours, pull down the Window menu at the top of the screen and put a check next to Layers.
• Your Layers Palette should have 8 layers and look something like this:

• Note that the eyeballs in the Color Pop layers as well as the Sharpen layer are turned off.  This means that the effects of those particular layers are hidden.  Clicking on the box next to the image thumbnail in each layer will place an eyeball in the box and show the effects of that particular color pop layer.

Use Layer Masks

• Rita of CoffeeShop recommends that you mask out skin on some, if not all of the Color Pop layers – especially the Vivid Layer.  The effect is great on clothes, landscapes, etc. but skin does not need to be Vivid-ized!  Keep reading for help using layers masks.
• The Layer Masks are the white thumbnails to the right of the image thumbnails on some of my layers.  Layer Masks are used to mask (hide) any given effect or enhancement from part of your image.  Where the Layer Mask is white, the effect shows through.  Where the Layer Mask is black, the effect is hidden.  And if there is a shade of gray on the Layer Mask, the effect is partially revealed.
• When you run the Vivid action, the Layer Masks are all white, indicating that the effects are applied to the entire image when you turn on that particular layer by clicking on the eyeball.  To constrain the effects to certain parts of your image, use a black paint brush to paint on the mask wherever you want to hide the effect.  Here’s an example:
• I want to make my daughter’s skirt and the shrubs more vivid, but I don’t want her skin to change.  First, I click on the eyeball to turn on the Vivid layer.  Then I click on the Layer Mask to activate it.  You can see in this image that I have the Vivid Layer turned on at 100% opacity.

• This step is very important.  The Layer Mask thumbnail must be outlined in white, otherwise the mask isn’t activated and won’t work.  See the white line around the Vivid Layer Mask thumbnail in the image on the right below? 

• On my activated Vivid Layer Mask, I’m going to paint in black everywhere that I don’t want the Vivid effect to show (my daughter’s skin and shirt).  To do this:
  • Press D to set the colors to Default Black and White.
  • If black isn’t the foreground color, press X to make it the foreground color or click on the double-headed arrow between the two color swatches in the tool box.
  • Then, press B to select the Brush, or click on the Brush Tool icon.  If your brush icon doesn’t look like the one in the image below, right click on the icon and select the regular Brush Tool.

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  •  After selecting the Brush Tool, choose a soft round brush by clicking on the drop-down arrow in the tool options bar near the top left corner of your workspace.  Select the Default Brushes category.  When you hover your mouse over a brush tip, the brush’s name will appear.  The number under the picture of the brush is its size in pixels.  I chose a 65 pixel Soft Round brush.  You might need to choose a smaller or larger brush depending on the resolution of your picture.

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  • You can adjust the size of your brush at any point using the tool options bar at the top of your workspace, using the size field.  (Sorry if that’s obvious!)  Also, make sure here that the Mode is Normal and Opacity is 100%.
  • Using this brush, I’m going to paint in black over each part of the picture that I don’t want Vivid.  Double check that the Layer Mask thumbnail is outlined in white!
  • When brushing, use short strokes, releasing your mouse very frequently.
• As an alternative to the brush, you can use a selection tool to select the area that you don’t want to Vivid-ize, and fill that area with black using the Paint Can tool.  On my picture, the Quick Selection Tool worked very well.
• After masking the effect as needed, adjust the opacity of the Color Pop layer by using the Opacity Slider at the top right hand corner of the Layers Palette.  Click on the arrow next to 100% and the slider will appear.  100% means that the effect is showing at full force and 0% means that it isn’t showing at all.
• Here is a screen shot of my layers palette after masking the Vivid layer.  The white part is Vivid-ized, and the black part (the baby’s skin) is masked.  You can see from the Opacity box at the top right corner of the Layers Palette that I’m using this layer at 75% opacity.

Sharpen Layer

• If you want to sharpen your photo, turn on the Sharpen layer by clicking on the eyeball square.  You can use the opacity slider to reduce the amount of sharpening, if you don’t like it at 100%. To adjust the Sharpen layer, make sure you click on the it first in the Layers Palette to activate it.  You will know when a layer is active when its color is a darker gray than the other layers, like the Vivid layer in the image above.

Lighten/Darken Layer

• Use the Lighten/Darken layer to darken eyes and brighten eyes, skin and teeth.  You can also darken or lighten highlights or shadows of your image, if necessary.
• To emphasize the eyes, select a black brush as explained above and make the size very small.  Reduce the brush’s opacity to about 10-15% on the tool options bar near the top of your workspace.  (This isn’t the same as adjusting the layer’s opacity on the Layers Palette.)  Brush over the pupils of the eye, the dark line around the iris, each eyelash individually and possibly the eyeliner line under the lashes.
• To use the Lighten function on eyes (the whites and possibly the inside of the iris, depending on the color), teeth and skin, press X to switch your foreground color from black to white.  You can also click on the double sided arrow to change the background color to the foreground.

• Adjust the size of your brush if needed, and adjust the brush’s opacity to somewhere between 5% and 20%.  You can always go to Edit/Undo if you paint with the opacity too dark and need to redo it.
• Brush over the whites of eyes, possibly the iris, and the teeth.  You can also brush over skin or other dark parts to brighten it up.  (You  should probably increase your brush size and reduce the brush’s opacity before working on the skin.)  Painting over the iris might lighten or brighten the eye color, depending on the color of the eyes.

Vignette Layer

• The vignette is automatically turned on when the action is run.  To adjust it, click on the layer to activate it (make it dark gray).  Reduce the opacity if needed.  Also, you can experiment with blending modes.  Some work better than others, depending on the picture.  I like Multiply or Soft Light in addition to the default Overlay mode.

Flatten the Image

• That should do it!  To flatten the image, right click on one of your layers in the layers palette and select Flatten.  Flattening is especially useful if you want to apply further edits to your picture.  When flattening, PSE will ask you if you want to discard hidden layers.  This is ok – it means that it is discarding the data for the layers that you didn’t use.